The invention relates to an adjusting device for adjusting two vehicle parts relative to each other.
Such an adjusting device comprises a first guide rail longitudinally extending along a longitudinal axis and a second guide rail movably arranged on the first guide rail and longitudinally extending along the longitudinal axis. Both guide rails can, for instance, serve for connecting a vehicle seat to a vehicle floor and can allow a movement of the vehicle seat in vehicle longitudinal direction within a longitudinal adjustment of the vehicle seat. The first guide rail is essentially U-shaped in the cross section thereof transverse to the longitudinal axis and comprises for this purpose a base and two lateral legs extending essentially parallel to each other, which form the profile of the guide rail. The second guide rail is slidably mounted on the first guide rail, wherein for instance a ball bearing can be provided for a frictionless adjustability.
Both guide rails are adjustable relative to each other via a spindle gear. An adjusting mechanism is arranged for this purpose between the legs on the first guide rail, wherein said adjusting mechanism comprises a spindle nut, which can be set into a rotation about the longitudinal axis for driving the adjusting device and engages with a spindle arranged torque-proof on the second guide rail also longitudinally extending along the longitudinal axis. The spindle comprises for this purpose for instance an external thread on the outside surface thereof, which engages with an internal thread arranged on a drilled hole of the spindle nut in such a way that when rotating the spindle nut said spindle nut rolls off from the spindle and thus the first guide rail moves along the longitudinal axis relative to the second guide rail.
The adjusting mechanism is inserted into an interior space of the first guide rail formed between the legs of the first guide rail and is retained between the legs, wherein a fastening device for fastening the adjusting mechanism on the first guide rail is provided.
In case of an adjusting device known from DE 103 37 475 A1 an adjusting mechanism of this type is connected to the first guide rail via a fixing bracket, wherein the fixing bracket encompasses the adjusting mechanism in a U-shaped manner such that the adjusting mechanism is supported along the longitudinal axis. The fastening device is formed in this case by the fixing bracket with lateral legs encompassing the adjusting mechanism, wherein fastening flanges are aligned to the legs, via which the fastening bracket with fastening openings arranged thereon can be connected to the first guide rail via screw connections.
In case of an adjusting device known from DE 10 2006 011 718 A1 an adjusting mechanism is arranged on a first guide rail via a fastening bracket, wherein the adjusting mechanism projects through the first guide rail with a cone-like bulge and the fastening bracket is crimped on the first guide rail.
Further embodiments of adjusting mechanisms are for instance known from DE 10 2006 049 809 A1 and DE 10 2007 023 329 A1 and WO 2009/092946 A2 discloses another embodiment of a fastening bracket.
In case of the known adjusting devices a fastening device is provided in particular in form of a fastening bracket made of metal in order to provide a secure fastening of the adjusting mechanism on the first guide rail. During assembly, at first, the fastening bracket is arranged on the adjusting mechanism, the spindle is guided through openings on the fastening bracket and is positioned on the adjusting mechanism, and the provided component group consisting of adjusting mechanism, spindle and fastening bracket is inserted into the already assembled guide rail pair in order to connect the fastening bracket to the first guide rail by attaching screw connections or by crimping.
In case of the conventional adjusting devices the fastening bracket has to be designed to introduce forces acting when operating the adjusting device into the first guide rail and to guarantee a secure support in particular also in case of the crash, thus at an increased load, wherein for this purpose a targeted deformation of the fastening bracket can be provided, wherein as a result thereof the fastening bracket engages directly with the spindle and provides a support of the first guide rail on the spindle connected tightly to the second guide rail.
By providing such a fastening bracket, which is arranged in a separate assembly step together with the adjusting mechanism on the first guide rail, the component and material costs of the adjusting device increase, for instance due to the screws to be provided for the connection and the required component processing (conventionally the fastening bracket has to be reworked for instance by rolling over for chipless smoothing and solidifying the material surface). Furthermore, the assembly is complicated due to the comparably complicated connecting process of the fastening bracket to the first guide rail, for instance by screwing or crimping, requiring multiple assembly steps.